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The fire bender raiders that killed Hunk’s family are called the ‘Ashen Ones’. They are wild bandits, bearing nothing but breeches, fearsome Ram Horses, and the loot that they take from their victims, to devour or sell. They are all fire benders, for when a babe is born among them, before anything else, like dropping it into its Ashen mother’s arms, it’s thrown into a roaring fire. Most get eaten by the flames, but the strong benders, the most useful ones, make frail attempts to fight back. And those, the Ashen Ones save.

In an age of machine and metal, these ones turn their back on all that, reach back into primal, brutal roots, and channel them into a wave of destruction so fine, so great, that in some parts, their names can only be hushed. When their settlements, made out of bone and charcoal, run out of food and funds, they send a raid. A raid to some other village, or some other nomadic people, and they take everything they can. Food, pots, pets, coin, carpets, bags, jewellery, anything small enough that they can drag away on their beasts, and things that are not human.

For all that is human, they slaughter, they burn to charred flesh and stinking cinders, save for one child. A child with two parents, old enough to remember, but young enough to fear them like an animal. A child that will continue tales of how powerful they are, how unstoppable, to spread their word, all to quake the boots of the pot bellied city industrialists who’ve retreated away from their natures.

The Ashen Ones detest modernity, detest morality, and adore depravity to the point where, in many ways, they are human no longer.

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Blister Birds:

Birds that, at adulthood, reach up to four feet in length, from beak to the tip of their tails. Native to the Fire Nation, these birds are often compared to the phoenix of legend, but these are not them. They are largely red, with golden claws and eyes the colour of coal, and have great, impressive plumage that is almost akin to a Peacock Pheasant. Their cries are like the roar of volcanoes, and they can exhale flame in their tantrums or bursts of emotions.

These birds nest high on buildings, often temples or sky scrapers, and in the Fire Nation, there is oft a platform specifically for them. The birds, when fledglings, are a perfect black, with no shine, only pitch. Soon, as they grow, they are kicked out of the nest, and lead largely solitary lives save when rearing children, which can have broods of up to four chicks.

They feast on Toad Dogs and on other such vermin, and to see them in the fields is evidence that soon any plague upon the crops will be destroyed. Also, they tend to enjoy the food of men the most, and can knock on people’s doors with their beaks, and charge in, going straight for the kitchen, and if allowed, they will feast on everything they touch.

There is a large colony of them in the Capital. And their personalities, if tamed, tend to be mischievous, but loyal to the point of being willing to die for those they choose. When they die, they burst into a beautiful burst of fire, that, even if in the driest field, will not scorch not even a sole blade of grass.

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And this, everyone, is our obligatory mascot! A name hasn’t been yet decided but I (theholychesse) am voting for Meowmageddon. This little cutie is a Koi Kat and belongs to Hunk! And it’s drawn by the wonderful friend @neithersnownorrain !!! Like they are too good and too pure and made a too good and too pure baby. We love this fish baby.